OutlawQueen Once-Shots
by outlawqueenwriter
Summary: A collection of one shots mainly from the Missing Year, but may include others. Prompts are welcome and encouraged. Follow Robin and Regina through ups, downs, revealed secrets, and falling in love. With guest appearances by a little prince, a dimpled little thief, and a nosy princess and her Charming husband. OQ, DQ, RB, Snowing, BrOTP SnowQueen, CS, BrOTP SwanQueen are welcome.
1. Chapter 1-Dark Secrets of the Evil Queen

**Hello all! So this is just going to be dedicated to one-shots or two-shots that are not related to each other and are just from my own thoughts, or, something new I'm doing, prompts from YOU. You can send me prompts either through reviews, on my Tumblr, or even Instagram under outlawqueenwriter (both for Tumblr and Instagram). I have a few one-shots already written, but I'm going to need and want more once those are posted. The first few are going to from the Enchanted Forest during the Missing Year because I can never get enough of that time. Also, I rated this M just to be on the safe side because some of these border on sensitive topics. I will try to remember to include trigger warnings on each chapter if warranted.**

 **Now, with all of that said, here is the first** **installment** **of my OutlawQueen Once-Shots :)**

Chapter 1 – **Dark Secrets of the Evil Queen**

Summary: Robin learns a bit more about the Queen than he bargained for.

 **TW: Mentions of marital abuse and rape**

Robin was aimlessly wandering the halls of the castle. He had been there about a month and he still found something new around every corner. He had only found himself "lost" once –it was him merely getting turned around and then somehow found himself outside the doors to the dining hall.

Now as Robin turns a corner down yet another new corridor, he stops in his tracks, looking around at the seemingly vacated hall. There were no sounds in this area. The emptiness even seemed to absorb the sounds of his boots hitting the stone floor. That or it was just the thick layer of dust coating the floors and walls. Curiosity getting the better of him, Robin continues down the corridor and goes around a slight bend to stop dead in his tracks at the sight before him. There, sitting outside an elaborately carved wooden door, stood the princess, and it looked like she had been crying. Before Robin could gather up his senses and turn around and pretend he hadn't seen anything, the princess turned her head at the slight intake of breath from Robin.

When the two locked eyes, Robin stood there horrified to have interrupted something so personal. But before he could mutter out his apologies, the princess stopped him by speaking.

"This was my father's bedchambers. Today is the anniversary of his death," Snow White explains, sniffling and trying to rid her face of her tears with a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry to hear about that. I heard he was a kind king," Robin says, expressing his condolences, nodding his head, and making to turn around but once again being stopped by the princess speaking to him.

"He was. He was a wonderful father, too. I was doing fine this morning, knowing what day it was. My husband doesn't even know. The only people who do are me and Regina. And possibly some servants that were kept here after he died," Snow explains. "I was doing fine, holding it together, going to breakfast with a good face, half expecting Regina to come in with somewhat of a solemn mood, but instead when she walked into the dining hall, she was the happiest I have ever seen her this past month. Seeing that, I think is what pushed me over the edge." Snow White cries a bit more, but then tries to stop when she remembers the company she is in.

"I'm sure she just forgot, Your Highness," Robin says, defending the Queen's actions. _Why the hell was he doing that? Yes they talked and his son and the Queen enjoyed each other's company, but why was he trying to justify her actions?_

"I doubt it. It was the day she killed him. Or I guess had the genie kill him," Snow says, scoffing slightly and then walking past Robin. Before she went around the bend in the corridor, she turned around and spoke again. "Maybe that's why she doesn't seem to care. Maybe she never loved him. But I know he cared for her."

And with that, the princess was gone, leaving Robin standing, rooted, to the same spot, staring at the door the princess had been standing in front of. A few seconds later, Robin could hear his son squealing in fits of laughter as he undoubtedly ran down a corridor nearby. It wasn't until he heard his son much closer that he realized he was in the same hall. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of the Queen's voice calling after Roland as she was most likely chasing after him.

Roland crashed into his father's legs as he was rounding the bend and looking behind him for the Queen.

"Papa! Save me! The Queen said she's gonna tickle me," Roland says, hiding behind his father's legs, looking between them to watch for the approach of the Queen.

But the Queen didn't round the corner, and no sounds of approaching footsteps could be heard. Robin picked up his son and started walking back down and around the bend in the corridor to go in search of the Queen, because surely she wouldn't just abandon his son like that, regardless of hers and his relationship –if that was even a good word for their constant back and forth bickering.

When he rounds the bend, he is once again unprepared for what he sees. The Queen is sitting on the ground hugging her legs against her and her head resting on her knees as she stares with a distant and slightly horrified expression towards what lay down the hall from whence he just came.

"Roland, why don't you go run off and find Little John or Friar Tuck and see if they want to play. I have to talk with the Queen for a moment," Robin instructs his son as he sets him down and the boy runs off to find his new playmates for the day.

Robin crouches down in front of the Queen, trying to figure out a way to get her to focus on him instead of whatever horrors are running through her mind to cause her to freeze like she did. It almost looks like she is having a silent panic attack, and Robin really has no idea how to help her. He racks his brain for anything that might help, and he vaguely remembers a time when one of the Merry Men had had a panic attack that was caused by something that triggered a bad memory for them. Friar Tuck sat in front of them and asked them questions to get them to come back to the present. So, Robin does just that.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" Robin starts, knowing full-well that she isn't and hoping to get a snide and snapping remark about how she clearly wasn't. Instead he gets nothing. Well almost nothing. He notices a small, almost imperceptible twitch of her lips as if she wanted to make a sarcastic remark.

 _Well at least I'm getting somewhere_ , Robin thinks.

"Milady, perhaps if you told me what was troubling you, I could be of some assistance?" Robin prompts, but still no answer, but he did get her to snap her eyes to his face, so that was good.

She still had that horrified look in her eyes though, and now that Robin could see them clearly –them looking right at him –his heart almost broke at the vulnerability she was showing in the amount of fear they held.

"Milady, if there is anything I can do to placate your worries, you must tell me what to do. And since you have shown yourself to be capable of just that, I imagine it will be quite easy for you to do now," Robin quips, hoping to draw some semblance of her sass out. But that's not what he gets. Instead, he gets an honest, unbridled response from the Queen about what has caused her to respond like this.

"I hadn't realized where Roland had been running to. I haven't been down this way in decades. I hadn't ever planned to be down this way, especially on this day in particular," the Queen utters in a voice nearing a whisper.

Robin almost smacks himself on the forehead for not seeing it sooner. It was the anniversary of her husband's death, regardless of whether she killed him or not. Her act this morning at breakfast was probably just that: an act to keep her mind preoccupied from what today really was. Not a blatant disrespect of her former husband.

He is about to voice his condolences when she speaks again, only this time, what he hears, makes his blood run cold and makes his anger boil.

"His room is just down there. I haven't been in that room since the last time he called me there so he could have his way with me. When he was so rough with me that I had bled from the trauma he was putting me through. When he raped me," the Queen recounts, revealing a very personal and private memory at what that bastard had done to her.

 _Wait… what? Now the once benevolent King is now a bastard? No, yes, of course he is because no husband should ever do that to his wife, regardless on his status and social class_. Robin's temper is bordering on overflowing for the Queen, whom, until this moment, he had pushed down any protective instincts toward, knowing full-well that she could take care of herself. That much was abundantly clear. And again, before Robin can say anything, the Queen blinks and her eyes become more focused and then she straightens her spine and looks at him with a horrified expression. Not the same horrified as when she was looking down the hall, horrified as in she realized what she just said and whom she just said it to.

"Your Majesty?" Robin asks tentatively, reaching out a hand slowly so as not to scare her off like she is some kind of caged animal. It isn't until he finishes that thought that that is exactly what she was here. This was a glorified prison for her, just like his home was for his own mother.

"Don't touch me, Thief," She snaps, as she jerks away from him and stands upright again.

Robin quickly stands to be eye level with her, not wanting her to literally look down at him while she tears into him, which is inevitable with this woman.

"You are never to repeat anything you just heard, do you understand," the Queen demands.

"Milady, I am sorry I overheard a private memory, and do not wish, nor is it my place, to voice what I heard to anybody," Robin affirms, nodding his head trying to make sure she knows he means every word.

"Good, because if you so much as utter a single word of what transpired here to anyone –and I mean _anyone_ –I will not hesitate to roast your ass with a few of my fireballs. Do we understand each other?" the Queen threatens, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, daring him to defy her.

"Yes, milady," Robin answers, hoping that she understands he means what he says.

The Queen nods her head in acceptance and then turns on her heel and walks down the hall from whence she came.

Robin watches as she walks away, thinking how quickly this morning's events changed so drastically and quickly. It all started with a curious walk around the castle then turned into him consoling a grieving princess to him witnessing a very haunting admission of part of the Queen's past.

 _It's no wonder she went down the path she did. With no means of escape and a temper like that with the influences she had, it's amazing she didn't turn Evil sooner_. Robin thinks as he walks down the corridor away from the King's bedchambers and off to find his son.

He finds his son outside among the gardens, playing knights and dragons with Little John and Friar Tuck. He watches his son for a moment, absorbing every moment and reminiscing on how his son and his wife had steered him down a better path when he could feel himself slipping. That's when he realizes why the Queen became Evil. She had no one to help her. No one that she trusted to save her from the darkness that was consuming her like it almost had him. In that moment, the thief feels for the queen and what she went through, better understanding the decisions she made, not justifying them, but understanding them.

From then on, Robin makes it his mission to make sure everyone can see the person behind the mask of the Queen. Not jumping to conclusions and not judging her for who she was, instead seeing her for who she is: a woman who faced incredible odds, who loves with all her heart, and who just wants to be free from the cage she is in. Because not only is she a caged animal, but one that is looked at every day by people who are wondering when she is going to snap and revert to her old ways. Everyone sees her as having always been evil, but Robin –and the princess as he soon finds out –sees her as having been good before she was manipulated, deceived, confined, and abused.

Because after all: Evil isn't born, it's made.


	2. Chapter 2- Stealing More Than Gold

**Hey all! Thank you so much for following and favoriting and thank you to Apples26 for the review. Reviews motivate me all, and please! if you have a prompt or one-shot story suggestion, please send them to me either in a review, PM, insta, Tumblr, pick your poison. And if you don't have a prompt for me, a simple review really motivates me to write, and not just for these one-shots, but for my other stories as well. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :)**

Chapter Two – **Stealing More Than Gold**

Summary: A lot more happened between the Queen and her Thief than anyone realized, and they liked it that way.

Robin hasn't always been a thief. He used to be a nobleman's son who had everything presented to him on a silver platter. It wasn't until he turned eighteen, ran away from home, and started stealing similar platters to live on his own that he started calling himself a thief. He left home to get away from his father and the constant feelings of entitlement his father pushed on him, and here he was, inside a castle, helping a prince, a princess, and a queen reestablish their kingdom again.

He didn't mind helping them. On the contrary, it gave him something to do that made him feel useful and needed. Not that being a father didn't give him those feelings already, it's just a different sort of usefulness and need. Because of this, Robin hasn't felt like a thief in months.

It has been four months since the monarchs returned to the Enchanted Forest, and ever since then Robin hadn't stolen a single thing from anyone. That is until about a week ago.

He hadn't intended to. It just sort of . . . happened.

He and the Queen were in the council room with the prince, princess, the grumbling dwarf, the old wolf-woman, her granddaughter, and Belle, discussing their next plan of action to defeat the Wicked Witch and her simian army. Halfway through, though, the discussion quickly turned to a heated debate on whether the Queen was going to travel to where the Witch was residing alone or with an army to scout out weaknesses and formulate a battle plan. She, of course, was insisting that she could take care of herself and was more than capable to go alone. Robin, however, would have none of that. He insisted she be accompanied by at least one other person who could handle a weapon. That statement was met by a scoff and an insistent "I can handle a sword just fine on my own," from the Queen, but nevertheless, Robin insisted.

The prince volunteered to go, to which the Queen shot down quite vehemently just as the princess refused to let him do such a thing. And before he knew it, Robin was volunteering to go with her. This suggestion was met with approval from everyone and that concluded the meeting. Only, the Queen wasn't entirely too thrilled about it. No, that's putting it lightly. She hated it. Abhorred it. She was livid as she walked from the room and back toward her bedchamber. And, naturally, Robin followed.

"Your Majesty, if I may-" Robin is interrupted by the Queen, who turns on her heel so fast and faces him, that Robin has to take a step back to steady himself from the sudden movement.

"No! You may not! How dare you take it upon yourself to suggest I be accompanied and then have the audacity to volunteer yourself for the job! I would have gladly taken the insufferable un-Charming Prince over you!" The Queen sneers as well as yells at him. "You just could not leave well enough alone, could you?"

"You know what? No! No I couldn't! Because whether you care to admit it or not, you are not just something to be easily tossed away. There are people that care about you here, and would be devastated if something happened to you," Robin shouts right back at her. Then, realizing what he just said he quickly adds, "My son, for example, would be utterly crushed if something were to happen to you where I could have prevented it."

"Regardless, _Thief_ , you do not get a say in my well-being. I have been known to protect myself and also to cause fear in the hearts of an entire realm before, so one person shouldn't be that difficult. Now, if you ever try to speak for me or protect me without my prior consent again, you will be facing much more than an angry Queen yelling at you," the Queen threatens, turning on her heel and walking back towards her bedchambers.

But Robin will not give her the satisfaction of having the last word, so he jogs to catch up to her when he finally gathers his senses. He gently grabs her arm, effectively turning her around to face him once again.

"Don't you dare grab me, Thie-" She is cut off by Robin pressing his lips against hers, effectively shutting her up for once.

He kisses her long and hard, and only breaks it off when the need for air has become overwhelming.

The Queen just stands there, staring at him, for what feels like an eternity, when in reality, it is only four seconds. Then, just when he thinks his life is over, she crashes her lips to his, pulling on his collar to get closer to him. He responds right away and cradles her face in his right hand while he wraps his left arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. They had somehow managed to make it to her bedchambers, where he turned them around and pressed her up against her door, kissing her senseless. Kissing over every inch of exposed skin –which was quite a bit, given the gown she was wearing.

It was another elegant, but intimidating gown, reminiscent of her Evil Queen days. It was a red corseted dress with gold beading and a severely plunging neckline, one that went to just below her sternum in the center. The dress continued in red and gold down to the floor while a black jacket with long sleeves that had gold fringe on the ends went over the dress, being held closed by a single, but sturdy looking, gold clasp. The dress exposed much of her chest and her entire neck, along with quite a bit of cleavage, to which Robin took full advantage of.

He still had her pressed up against the door, kissing, biting, and sucking her neck, chest, and tops of her breasts, eliciting small moans of pleasure from her. He got a particularly loud moan when he sucked on her pulse point and then again when he did the same to a spot behind her ear. He started moving further down, wondering what other noises he could pull from her when she abruptly shoved him off her and walked away.

She had her back turned to him, her hand up at her forehead, he presumed. He was about to ask what was wrong when she told him to leave. He looked at her worriedly before wordlessly opening the door and stepping from the room and shutting the door behind him.

Not two days later, after yet another meeting (the one on the eve of their departure for the Witch's castle) did they find themselves in the same situation, only this time, she didn't stop him, and they were only interrupted when Roland had been calling outside the door for 'His Majesty.'

Things got heated while on their journey to the Witch's castle, and this time, he stopped them before they went too far. The prince and princess remarked upon their return, that they were surprised to see they hadn't killed each other. He was surprised he had the strength to stop them not once, not twice, but thrice from going too far.

Now, here they are, nearly two days after they returned from their journey, and they are grasping desperately at each other to get closer as they crashed their lips to one another's repeatedly. And just like they had been on the journey to the Witch's castle, clothes were being removed, only this time, she was tearing his shirt off of him, literally. It was split right down his front as she tried to get as close to him as possible. Her clothes, on the other hand, were not so easily removed, as she was wearing a corset that accentuated her curves and a red velvet dress that clung to her like a second skin. It was driving him mad.

She let out a giggle at his sigh of frustration at the ties binding her corset together. She snaps her fingers, and in an instant, the corset is gone, along with the rest of her dress, leaving her standing in nothing but black lacey undergarments covering her more private areas.

He gives her a once over, letting his gaze rake over her body from head to toe in appreciation. It only takes him two steps before he has her in his arms again, kissing her senseless over every inch of her body. Marveling at how gorgeous she is and that he has the pleasure of making her squirm in want and ecstasy in his arms.

He half expects someone to disrupt them, but no one does. They are left to their own devices, and nobody is stopping them. Later, when they are under the covers on her bed and she is wrapped up in his arms, fully sated, he will remember he has a son to get back to. He will climb out of bed –quite reluctantly –put on his trousers, and grab what remains of his shirt before putting on his stockings and boots, before looking back at the Queen in her bed, completely naked, and watching his every move.

She will give him a grin bordering on enticing and seductive that causes him to walk back over to the bed and kiss her lips, her perfect lips, once again before slipping out the door with the quietness he had acquired from many years of being an accomplished thief. And even though he may not steal from the rich and give to the poor as he once did, he manages to steal kisses from a certain Queen when no one is looking, remaining undetected just like a well-practiced thief.

And later, right before she tells him of the curse that is to be cast, he doesn't waste one moment before kissing her as the purple and green smoke cloud engulfs everyone and takes them to a land without magic, where no one remembers the year they spent in the Enchanted Forest. Not even a Queen and a Thief, who end up reverting to familiar ways –though they don't know it at the time –stealing kisses whenever they can. And when they get their memories back, and they realize that nothing had really changed between them, he will say that he may not be a thief to everyone around him anymore, he is still a thief to the Queen. Stealing her heart and cherishing it with all that he has. But, then again, he guesses he didn't really steal her heart.

Because, as she told him not long before she kissed him in his camp: You can't steal something that's been given to you.


	3. Chapter 3- Dancing She Can Do

**AN: I sincerely apologize for basically disappearing for a while. College is getting insane and everything is due and there is literally only three weeks left and so much to do. Plus, I'm graduating in a little over three weeks, so that's very stressful as well. I am currently posting this during one of my classes. I am trying to get my other story Moving Forward finished up, but it probably won't happen until after school is over. But, I felt guilty and I had this written, so I decided to post it for you all so that you know I haven't forgotten any of my stories, my life kind of just got in the way.**

 **Dancing She Can Do**

Summary: Robin finds Regina out by her apple tree one night crying, and ends up holding her close and swaying back and forth to no music.

Robin had been tossing and turning in his bed for the last two hours, trying to fall asleep, but peace would not come. He had finally decided to just go for a walk, hoping it would help him clear and calm his mind.

He had been walking the halls of the castle, keeping track of every turn he takes so he can find his way back, when he stumbled upon the royal gardens. Deciding some fresh air would be good, he walked out of the castle halls and into the garden. As he looked around, he noticed that some plants looked well kept, where others didn't. Like they were preserved during the twenty-eight years the castle was left vacant. Rose bushes were trimmed, flower plants were tamed and back to a reasonable size, compared to other flower plants.

Robin continues to look around the garden, not really looking for anything, so when he finds someone standing under an apple tree, looking up at its branches, he nearly jumps out of his skin. Then he realizes who that person is.

He smirks before tentatively walking up to them, and then clearing his throat so as not to scare them away. "Milady?"

The Queen visibly tenses her shoulders at the sound of his voice but then when she looks over her shoulder at him, she relaxes a bit.

"Thief," Regina says by way of greeting. Or acknowledging his presence is probably more likely.

Robin walks up next to her, feeling more comfortable after announcing his presence. He simply stands there, looking up at the apple tree in front of them, not saying a word.

Regina looks over at the thief that is slowly, and annoyingly, worming his way into her good graces. She tries to wipe away the few tears that have made their way down her cheeks without him noticing, but unfortunately he catches her wiping away the last tear.

"Milady? What's troubling you?" Robin asks, sounding genuinely concerned about her.

"Nothing that concerns you, Thief," She snaps, but it lacks her usual bite.

Robin just chuckles, but tries to pass it off as a cough after realizing he actually values his life and would prefer not to be reduced to ash. Though he knows Regina wouldn't do that to him, but she does have a reputation to uphold.

"What do you want, Robin?" Regina sighs, not tearing her gaze away from her tree.

"Oh, I was just out for a walk when I stumbled upon a beautiful woman standing beneath an apple tree in the moonlight and I figured I would come and see what she found so interesting about said apple tree," Robin replies, smirking, not tearing his eyes from the apple tree in front of him.

Regina looks over at Robin, almost cracking a smile, before her walls crumble and she is reduced to tears yet again.

Robin looks at her genuinely worried, "Regina, what is wrong?"

"Will you just hold me, Robin? Please?" Regina nearly begs, and it almost kills her to beg, because she was taught from a very young age to never beg. _It isn't ladylike, Regina. Queens don't beg. It shows weakness, and Queens never show weakness,_ she can hear her mother's voice saying in her head.

Robin's heart breaks at the broken tone in the former Evil Queen's voice. He wraps her up in his arms, pulling her close to him as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. Her tears soak the collar of his shirt as he continues to hold her close.

When Robin wraps his arms around her and holds her tight, she almost feels put back together. Like his arms are the glue that holds all of her broken and shattered pieces together. After some time, her tears stop flowing and she realizes that they are swaying back and forth, almost as if they are dancing. She doesn't mind though. It's nice really. She's never learned how to dance, never been dancing before, and if this is what it's like, she has no complaints.

Pretty soon Robin is twirling her around, making a smile appear on Regina's face at his attempts to cheer her up.

Robin brings her back into his embrace, a hand on her back and the other grasping her hand in his own.

Regina lays her head on Robin's shoulder and sighs, "Robin, what are we doing?"

"We are dancing, milady," Robin answers, smirking when he receives a half-hearted glare from the Queen.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it, Thief," Regina sasses, lifting her head and looking up at him, smirking.

"Ah," Robin says, placing his hand that was on her back on her head and nudging it back down to his shoulder. "I do not know what we are doing, your majesty. But for now, we are dancing."

Regina smiles, and just nods her head in acceptance because dancing currently, that she can do. She doesn't think she can do the whole relationship –or whatever it is they are doing –thing. Not yet anyways. Not when she can't sleep because she misses her baby boy, her little prince, too much. Not when she decides to go for a walk out in her gardens when she can't sleep from thinking about her son so much. Not when a thief finds her in said gardens and attempts to cheer her up.

Dancing she can do. Everything else? Not yet.

 **Don't forget to send my prompts because I am running out of the ones I have already written. I won't get to posting them until after May 15th, but I will get to them. So, please send me ideas. And as always, thanks for reading and please fav, follow, and/or review.**


	4. Chpt 4-Nightmares & Quiet Reassurances

**Hello all! I know its been a while and I appreciate any and all patience you have shown to me for my stories. I was not in a good frame of mind earlier this year and consequently had lost my muse for my stories. I'm not gonna promise anything except to keep posting chapters. I have been working on Moving Forward, so don't fret; I didn't forget about it. I have been working on something else as well because the idea would just** ** _not_** **leave me alone, but I won't be posting it until it is near completion. That being said, I hope you all enjoy a little DimplesQueen and don't forget to favorite, follow, and/or review. Mwah :)**

 **Nightmares and Quiet Reassurances**

Prompt: Robin is on patrol with the Merry Men when Roland wakes up from a nightmare and goes looking for him, but instead of finding his father, he finds a wide awake former Evil Queen.

"Papa! Papa! PAPA!" The little boy cries as he runs out of his bedchambers and down the hallway looking for his father.

A crash of thunder echoes down the hallway causing the little boy to yelp and start running towards the closest room, hoping it is his father's.

The Queen is sitting at her vanity unable to relax and succumb to sleep when there is a bright light followed by a loud crash that reverberates throughout her room and most likely the castle. Shortly thereafter, her chamber doors are swung open and in runs a little boy no more than five years old. Regina quickly recognizes him as the thief's adorable little boy, Roland, whom she saved from a flying monkey when they arrived back here. Her heart melts every time she sees the little boy, reminding her of her own little prince when he was that age. She stops her thoughts there before they become too painful and instead focuses on the little boy who has just realized whose room he had run into.

"My Majesty, sorry. I was looking for my papa."

Regina smiles at his incorrect formality, finding it rather adorable. "That's alright Roland. I couldn't sleep either," Regina replies. This causes the little boy to gasp and look at Regina with confusion and worry.

"Did you have a nightmare too?" Roland asks.

 _Ah. So that's why he is up and running about. Undoubtedly looking for his father who is on patrol at the moment_ , Regina thinks as she stands up and walks over to where Roland is standing. She kneels down so she is on his level before replying.

"As a matter of fact I did, Roland. And when I woke up, I was unable to go back to sleep," Regina reveals, causing the little boy to gasp again and shake his head in defiance.

"Why couldn't you go back to sleep?" Roland asks innocently. "Was it because you were all alone? I know that when I wake up from a nightmare all alone I can't go back to sleep, so I look for papa. Maybe we could look for him together so he can fight away both our nightmares."

Regina smiles at the thoughtfulness this boy has. Even for the Evil Queen. "Your father is on patrol around the castle right now, Roland," Regina tells him. "He won't be back for a few more hours."

"Oh," Roland sighs, hanging his head and heading back out the doors. But before he reaches them, there is another bright flash of light and a loud crash that causes Roland to run back and fling himself at Regina, shaking in fear in her arms.

"Tell you what, Roland. How about you stay here with me until your father gets back, hmm?" Regina prods, hoping to distract the little boy from the thunder storm going on outside.

"Really?!" The little boy exclaims, hardly believing his luck at getting to spend more time with the queen than his papa usually allows.

"Really," Regina says with a sense of finality, as if everything is right in the world with just that one word. And perhaps, for just a moment, it is.

Regina scoots over a little on the bed to give the boy enough space to crawl up (with some assistance from Regina, of course) and snuggle into Regina's side. He wraps his little arms around her middle, holding on tight as if letting go even a little will make her leave as well. As if this was all just a dream and he was to wake up soon.

But that is not the case, so when Regina loosens his arms a bit, he doesn't fight it. She scoots down and rests her head on her pillow and Roland soon rests his head on her chest, his ear right over her heart. The steady rhythm soon lulls the young boy back to sleep and the Queen stays up only long enough to make sure he is in fact sleeping before she succumbs to the pull of rest and dreams.

The two stay like that all night and when the sun rises and the thief makes his way back to the castle, looking for his son in his room for only a moment before remembering the storm the previous night and walks towards the queen's bedchambers. There he finds his son curled up in the Queen's protective embrace, the two of them both curled up into and towards each other. When he finds the two of them like that, he can't help the smile that takes over his features. He can't help the warm feeling that spreads all over from somewhere that has been locked away for far too long.

In that moment, he knows he is a goner. He had been developing feelings for the Queen, that much he knew, but they had mostly been based off of her beauty and the way she carried herself. But now, he was seeing a whole new side to her. A side that not many people have actually had the pleasure of seeing because of how guarded she keeps herself from the rest of the world. And he can't really blame her for doing so because if he had once been evil and been trying to turn his life around, but every past mistake was thrown in his face at every turn, he would build up walls and keep himself guarded for fear of being hurt yet again.

He quietly slips out of the Queen's bedchamber and back to his room, not making a single noise for fear of waking not only the Queen, but his son as well. But what he doesn't know is that Regina had been awake since he had entered her room, but refrained from moving because she didn't want to let go of the precious moment of peace being snuggled up with a little boy who could care less about who she was, and was more concerned with who she _is_. It may have been selfish, but the thief hadn't moved his son from her arms so maybe it wasn't entirely that selfish at all. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to turn around for the better after all, even if she would never see her son again. Regina knew things could eventually be right again someday, and this was just the beginning of the journey to that day.


	5. Chapter 5- Every Little Thing

**Hey all! Yes, I'm alive. Sorry it's been a while. Life got crazy. I was working 9-6 Monday through Friday this summer and I've been doing my student teaching along with working 4pm-6pm right after these last few months so I've had very little time to do anything. Things are starting to simmer down a bit now, so I should be able to get more writing done. And to start it off, I just got done writing this little installment. It is a bit dark and mentions some pretty heavy stuff, so apologies. That being said, I have been scrambling my brain for some way to write a story inspired by the song Every Little Thing by Carly Pearce. If you haven't heard it, go check it out because I am just so in love with it, it's just so beautiful. Anyways, on to the story. :)**

 **Trigger warnings: Abuse and mentions of marital rape**

 **Every Little Thing** –Inspired by the song "Every Little Thing" by Carly Pearce

Lying there in bed next to the thief that had quickly wormed his way into her heart, Regina can only sigh in contentment. It isn't often that she can just relax and just be. Another sigh escapes past her lips as Robin continues to run his fingers along her side. She peeks one eye open and smirks when she sees him staring at her.

It's still early in the morning, the sun just barely starting to rise and come in through the open balcony, sheer curtains blowing in the soft breeze filtering into the room, causing an almost dream-like feeling to permeate through the room. If only all mornings could be like this. Waking up next to someone who genuinely cares about you is a nice feeling.

Rolling over onto her stomach, Regina stretches, then burrows deeper into the soft downy mattress and duvet, not wanting to feel the cold sting of an early autumn morning chill just yet. She closes her eyes again, soaking up the simplicity of the morning as Robin continues to run his fingers lightly over the naked expanse of her back. They had had a romantic night of talking about everything and nothing, exchanging lazy kisses here and there between sips of red wine, and making love in the early hours of the morning. They have only been asleep for a few hours, but neither really cares. It's not like either one is getting ready to get up and leave, though he would be the one leaving since this is her bedchambers.

Regina is almost lulled back into sleep when Robin's hand stills on her back, causing her to groan in annoyance. Lifting her head to look at the thief, Regina checks to see if he hadn't lulled himself to sleep. However, when she looks at him, he is wide awake and has a look of curiousness and a slight hint of –shock? horror? –on his face.

"Robin?" Regina questions, turning slightly so she doesn't have to strain her neck as much to look at him. He has leaned in closer to her back and looks as if he is trying to inspect her back closely. Why–

Oh.

"Regina? Are these scars?" Robin tentatively asks.

Trying to brush it off because she doesn't really want to talk about them and ruin the mood she was in, Regina simply says, "Maybe, I don't know. I haven't really remembered they were there to be honest."

Of course, she was never a very good liar. That's one thing she learned very quickly not to do with her mother, Leopold, and Rumple. She got slapped and beating only once with her mother and Leopold before she never lied to them again. Rumple simply was harsher with her and more demanding during their lessons.

"Don't lie to me, lovely," Robin implores, gently turning her so that he could see her face more clearly.

Sighing, and realizing he isn't going to take "I don't know" for an answer, Regina sits up, grabs her robe and puts it on, and faces Robin, her knees bent and tucked up in front of her body with her arms wrapped around them.

"The truth is, I remember exactly where those scars came from, even the ones that are no longer visible because there are other scars over them," Regina starts, and then, once she gets going, she doesn't stop.

She tells him first of the scars her mother gave her, the ones that would be there but aren't because her mother always healed her wounds because "No one is going to want to marry someone with scars and evidence that they were ever disobedient. It isn't attractive, Regina." Then there are clearly the mental scars her mother left that couldn't be healed, even if the physical twins were.

Next, she tells Robin of the scars the king gave her. How every time she wavered in her commitment to him, he lashed out at her. How there were some nights she didn't sleep because she was afraid he would come into her bedchambers and take what he thought to be rightfully his from her. And on the nights that he would come in, he always had a faraway look on his face, his eyes seeing something –someone –that wasn't there. Regina knew he was imagining his dead wife every time. The only times he would register that it was Regina he was with, was when she would make a noise of pain and he'd slap her and tell her to shut up. Nearly every time he was drunk. She can still, to this day, remember the taste of his lips soaked in the awful ale he would drink until he was drunk. He would always leave his scent behind on her sheets, so she'd always move over to a chair and sleep there for the night, and in the morning the maids would come in and take the sheets to be washed so they'd be free of his scent later that night.

There would be nights where she'd relive the moment Daniel died, and blame him for what was happening to her with the king. Why he couldn't have taken a job elsewhere, or never fallen for her in the first place. Most of the time it felt as if his ghost was haunting her, constantly reminding her of everything she could've had, but was so quickly ripped away from her. She would beg to anyone, to whomever was out there to just take her away from her life. To just let her die and be with Daniel again.

When Rumple came along, she had hoped that by learning magic, she could bring Daniel back and then run away with him like they had initially planned, but when she learned bringing back the dead was impossible, she begged Rumple to just kill her. She begged him time and time again to just end it all, but he wouldn't. He needed her for his plans.

She begged her father for help, which he tried his hardest. He sent for the Ahgraban viper upon her request, even though he didn't want to. She was planning to use it on herself so she could finally be with Daniel once again, but then the genie suggested she use it on the king, and well, that would certainly solve her main problem. She'd figure out the rest later.

And she did, though not how she had originally thought she would. But she had to get away from all of the abuse in her life and win for once.

"I wish that I could forget everything, Robin, but I remember everything. Most days I'm haunted by my past and the memories, but I always remember, even when I wish I didn't," Regina finishes.

Robin is speechless. He hadn't expected to learn so much about her past when he asked about the scars, but now that he has, all he wants to do is hold her in his arms and never let her go. She is so much stronger and resilient than he had initially thought, and he had thought she was rather resilient and strong.

Regina curls up into Robin's arms, not usually one to show weakness to anyone, but she really just wants the comfort, considering it's right there, literally waiting with open arms. It absolutely sucks to remember every little thing.

 **Let me know what you think! :)**


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